Ban Flag Burning, Veteran Asks L.v. Municipalities

A South Whitehall Township resident and army veteran is asking 32 Lehigh County municipalities to do something for the United States: encourage the prohibition of flag-burning.

Bob Beam sent letters to municipal boards last week asking that they encourage the U.S. Congress and President George Bush to amend the U.S. Constitution to prohibit flag desecration.

Beam, 64, enclosed a copy of a resolution unanimously approved by the Whitehall Township commissioners on May 14 that does just that.

U.S. Rep. Don Ritter, R-15th District, told Beam he'd like to have the opinion of as many as possible on the issue, so Beam said he decided to write to municipal governments.

A community activist and former South Whitehall Township commissioner, Beam initiated a local drive nearly a year ago to urge the U.S. government to set penalties on flag desecration. He presented Ritter with a 6,820-name petition in late September supporting a constitutional amendment on flag-burning.

Beam said with his latest efforts, he hopes to gauge the sentiment of the communities on the issue.

"I feel that 80 percent of Americans are in favor of a constitutional amendment and only a small percentage are against," he said.

Bud Herre, a Whitehall Township commissioner, questioned if anyone is against the prohibition of flag-burning.

"I haven't met anybody at work or anywhere that thinks you should have a right to burn the flag," Herre said. "If this is a controversial issue, I don't know where the other side is."

Whitehall commissioners sent a letter to U.S. Senators John Heinz and Arlen Specter, Ritter and President George Bush pledging support for an amendment.

"The American flag is the symbol of every ideal upon which this country was founded," the letter authored by Herre said. "Countless Americans have given their lives in its defense. In Whitehall Township, we believe strongly that it is not an infringement of a person's constitutional rights to request that they treat such a sacred symbol with respect."

Beam agreed, saying that government must take stands on certain issues. He likened a constitutional amendment on flag-burning to the regulation that a U.S. president may serve only two terms.

"That's restricting my right to vote for a man for more than two terms," Beam said.

Beam hopes his efforts to get local municipalities to go on the record on flag-burning will catch on in other counties beyond Lehigh, and in fact across the country.

"I feel once we forget the sacredness of the American flag, we have lost everything," Beam said.